Twelve-Year-Old Cited for Pointing Gun at Classmate

The SJPD has cited a twelve-year-old boy for pointing a plastic pellet gun at another student. Though pellet guns are legal, experts claim that they are extremely dangerous, and police respond to them as if they are a real weapon. In July, police shot and killed a man with a pellet rifle during a raid on a local marijuana-growing operation.

The incident with the boy occurred at the Beacon School, which serves students who have had difficulties fitting into the public school system. According to his own account, later verified by the school, on September 22, the twelve-year-old was sent home on for fighting with another student. According to police, the boy went home, got the gun, and rode his bike back to school. He claimed that he planned to intimidate the other student, but not to harm him, and that the gun was unloaded.

Although the boy was not pointing at anyone, a passerby in a trucksaid he saw the boy straddling his bicycle in a combat position, and called out, “Gun! Kid has a gun! Gun!” At this point, the boy fled the scene. The passerby, Steve Ross, later watched the news to see if the incident was reported, but it was not, so he called the SJPD. The police later identified the boy, questioned him and confiscated the pellet gun.Read More at The Mercury News.